As war looms in Iraq, the international system is on the cusp of tectonic change. Both the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are in crisis. So is the U.S. alliance with South Korea. What might all this mean for Japan?
For starters, Japan must abandon the delusion that security can be found in the U.N. With unilateralist sentiment on the rise in America, Japan must also move quickly to shore up its fragile alliance with the United States. Otherwise, Japan could be left to fend for itself in a dangerous neighborhood.
The U.N. Security Council is irrelevant in the growing crisis on the Korean Peninsula because Russia and China possess vetoes. Both these Cold War allies of North Korea oppose sanctions against Pyongyang, even though it is in violation of a raft of international agreements.